Spiders

Henderson's False Huntsman Spider

Spiders are one of the most seen, least known but most feared of the land animals without backbones (invertebrates) of Australia. Although all but one family has venom, most are probably quite harmless. What are spiders?

Of the 10,000 species of spiders believed to be in Australia only about 3300 are named. Identifying spiders

Most native bush areas include about 700 spider species (about 50–100 occur in bushy suburbs).

Many species are small, some are quite tiny (totally little bigger than the full stop in a sentence!) but remarkably shaped. Despite their small size, they are rare, exciting and belong to families either endemic to Australia or southern continents.

Different forests are habitats to different suites of species. The most diverse and bizarrely populated forests are those of montane rainforests (e.g., Border Ranges) where ancient species attract international attention.